FOOD LOVE

Jan 25, 2010

DO YOU DO IT? SHOULD I?

I have gray hair at my temples. Not a lot but some. It stands out against my dark brown hair. Now as the baby of our family I feel I have an obligation to keep the gray at bay so the rest of them don't feel so old. (here is where I have to say that my sister 4 years older than me doesn't have gray hair...or so she says)

I have had my hair colored in the past but it is so expensive here. By the time I get a cut and color it is about $140.

Now I would never cut my own hair, except for the cool shag haircuts we all did to ourselves in the early 70's. What? You didn't do that?Look at how cool we were. Me and my BFF in high school, Wendy. Of course naturally curly hair has a mind of its own. Oh and don't forget to take note of the chalk white eye shadow under the brow.

My question for you is do you or have you ever colored your own hair? Was it a disaster? Those home color kits have come a long way haven't they? No? I mean Sarah Jessica Parker and Eva Longoria color their own hair don't they? I see them on TV saying how great these products are. I am sure they are in the bathroom with a girlfriend giggling and drinking Pinot Gris, painting this muck onto their heads and hoping their hair doesn't fall out and clog the sink.
Help me out here ladies. What do you advise? There are so many shades to choose from how do you pick the right one?

30 comments:

I've colored my own hair since I was 30. I've only had it professionally colored a couple of times and I really couldn't tell much difference--except in price. For years, my hair was "light auburn", then I had it straightened and that process took all the color out--I was blond! My husband loved it. We headed to Walmart, where I stood in the aisle while he held box after box up to my head till he found the closest in color. I've been "candleglow" ever since. Oh, and for the record, my original color is mousy brown, which was quickly turning Wicked Witch of the West gray.

Start off with a semi-permanent product that will wash out. And don't try to do a drastic change--you can't go from dark brown to platinum blond in one day. Experiment and have fun. I've tried almost all the brands. Nice and Easy is anything but. Loreal has been my brand of choice for years now. Good luck!

Cool haircut there Lori. Reminds me of wanting feathered bangs so badly, and they don't work with curly hair.

I have never, ever colored my hair, but Beverly sounds like she is giving great advice. My advice would be to stay away from those fuschia, and purple shades, I don't think that they go well with your skin tones. LOL.

Here's another funny thing, everyone at work thinks that I color my hair, because I work in the Health and Beauty department. Gotta laugh, if I did color my hair, it probably would be a lot blonder. Seriously, I need to correct peoples opinions all the time.

Good luck, and I am waiting to see what you choose, me, I am just going to go "au natural", and if they don't like it, tooo bad.

Don't use the store bought stuff. Go to a beauty supply store and get the good stuff and then do it your self. I use Redken. Get a bottle of Redken color gels developer #20 (it's in a big white bottle) and then a bottle of Redken fashion gels haircolor (it's in a small brown bottle with a colored lid). I buy the "maple" color (which is just a tad darker than my natural color) and I also use "clear" which adds shine. Then mix it 1:1 and apply all over or use a cap. I prefer a cap or foils b/c the regrowth isn't as noticeable. Just ask the employees to recommend a color to cover grays for best results. Good luck!

I always dye my own hair. I try to stay in the same shades as my hair, if that makes sense?I'll do a few shades lighter for a blonde, or a few shades darker for an almost black. I've even went red before. I think you would look great as a red. :)PS I'm cheap and always buy the stuff at the regular store.

I colored my own hair for years. I have also straightened my crazy curly hair myself as well. I do go to a salon for foils as I do NOT have the patience to do this at home. I would suggest what others have.. Use good color and don't try to go tooo drastic of a shade change to begin with. Naturally curly hair can be challenging. I finally found a salon that I LOVE. They actually do a fantastic job. I do realize how expensive it can be as well.. and at some point, I will go back to coloring my own.

I agree - By all means DIY, but get a semi permanent to begin with and get as close to your normal colour as possible, this way it will continue to look totally natural.I've done my own colour loads of times, and find it far more successfull that paying a fortune and going to a salon - you can control the colour better and don't have to look in the mirror in horror and then lie that you love it to the colourist LOLAlthough I have not coloured my hair for a few years now, I always ask my hairdresser if I have any grey yet.... as soon as she says yes, I shall be in the supermarket buying my colour so fast the moths in my purse won't know what hit them!

As someone that turned her hair orange and learned a valuable lesson at the ripe age of 14 I NEVER colour my own hair. I spend the $70 every 12 to 14 weeks and you have seen how lovely my hair is - *cough cough*. LOL what we both have going for us though is waves and curls which means we can hide the roots longer.

But if Eva can do it I am positive you can do it - maybe add a bit of tole to one side - I can just see a cute hummingbird coming out of one ear.

I've had my hair colored professionally a few times, as well as highlights. I loved it, but not the expense - my hair grows so fast that it needed touch ups every 3-4 weeks. I'm terrified to do it myself, so I'm going gray. I figure I've earned every one of "those" highlights. I even had a client tell me that she loved what I had done to my hair color wise. When I told her it was just my natural gray coming through, she was mortified. But I took it as a compliment! Kathy

I've done my own and have had it professionally done. The last two years I've had highlights but find now that the gray is coming in so fast it still requires touch-ups every 30 days. If I had it to do all over again, I think I would let nature take it's course....the thought now of letting this grow out is rather frightening!! How does one go about explaining 4 inch roots?

When doing it myself, except for a couple of mishaps, I had good luck. I never tried with professional coloring myself (wish I had thought of that!)

Lori-I have done it myself once in DIRE circumstances. Personally, I will do without something else (like food or heat) to go to the hairdresser. I hate spending the money too, but I grew up hearing the old commercial "If I have just one life, let me live it as a blonde"--I'm doing my best :)

I have my hair done at the salon in the summer because my hair dresser does really great gold highlights. For the grey, I've been using the Nice and Easy touch up kit for roots and I have to say, it's pretty fabulous.

In the winter I use Feria and I love it. Lots of highlights and natural colour.

I home colored once - - - it was a disaster. Well, there WAS that other time when I colored it BLUE for the Colts, but that doesn't count and it worked out perfectly - - - if by perfectly you mean having BLUE hair.

Now - - - I go EVERY FIVE OR SIX weeks to my hairdresser for highlights. I LOVE it, haven't been without them for about 7 or 8 years now. They cover gray - - - if there is any up there, not sure, have had the highlights too long, and I think they look more natural than some of the "colors" do. Also, I have very limp, curless hair and the highlights give me just the right amount of "damage" to give my hair body. Since I wear it short, the damage gets cut off every time.

Hey Lori,I color my own hair with permanent color and I have done it for years and had no problem what so ever! It only costs me $8 every 5 weeks to color my hair and when I had it done in the salon, it looked no different. Color has come a long way! Stay close to your natural color and you should have no problems! I use a light natural brown, since I already have natural red highlights! I only pay $15 for a haircut, so I guess I am just thrifty. Cindy

I cannot begin to tell you how this subject effects me! I began coloring my hair in my mid forties and then stopped. There were only a few grays so I let it grow out until in my fifties. Then I got serious and colored a coffee brown which matched my own hair exactly..and I could go a long time without coloring. Like you during those years the price went higher and higher. I don't know when my daughters began to get angry with me...but in short this is what one of them said. She is a high school councelor. She said "Mom, I want to be an example to my daughter how to grow older with grace and dignity. I am no longer going to dye my hair." Now at 47 she is getting a lot of gray. She said the students teased her at first but now students and staff have forgotten all about it. When she told me that..I stopped dying mine. There is a horror story connected with it but another day or I will post it. Now as you can see, I am nearly all white. No more worrying about the wind blowing my hair and the gray showing, and no more worrying about what people think (almost.):) That was a year and a half ago and it is nearly all grown out. I admit I have been tempted, but will not give in. Besides, :) at 73 it is ABOUT time I gave it up. Most of my friends still dye theirs but they eye mine and make NICE comments. Whether they mean them or not is not important. It's time. :) Each of us will know when "it's time." Hugs. Lots of them.MonaMona

Lori ,I have been coloring my hair myself since I was in my 20's!!! The only bad time is when I tried to strip it (in my 20's) and turned it bright orange! But ever since then I've been various shade of blond and now I pretty much stick to a natural dark blond. I usually always use L'oreal but at times have used Clairol. The only time I had it done at the salon was when I wanted it high-lighted. But I think it's too expensive now. Go for it !! I'll never go grey!!!!!!!

I've always dyed my own hair. There's enough selection out there to find something that works for you. I see no, reasonable or logical reason to pay someone upwards of $100 to dye my hair for me when I can get a box of the stuff and do it myself for less than $15. If you want to colour gray, stay away from Feria and go for Loreal Preference. It has good "sticking" power ;) I love dying my hair lighter for spring/summer and darker in Fall/Winter. Have at it, and enjoy.

girl...I have been every color of the rainbow when I was young!!! I once left the bleach on too long and my hair had a dusty blue tinge!!! then once I tried to go a little darker, and my hair went khaki green!!! that was the end for me. I had to go to work looking like I had mold in my hair and I was so ashamed!!! Now...I get my hair lowlighted at a professional. Have fun!!! good luck!

I'm not sure what to color to select for you...go to a professional the first time so it is done right then you may be able to do a couple of colors at home in between the expensive visits. My hair was super blonde when young...now its a dirty blonde with WHITE WIRERY hair coming in. I use a cap and put through hair at home to do light blonde highlights to match the white-gray hair. It works out okay...I just look blonder.

I have mine done. I was payin' the big bucks for years and then my hairdresser moved. I found another who cuts and colors every four weeks for 45.00 and I like it better than the more expensive one. I won't mess with mine, blondes can be tricky to say the least.

I'm in a can't decide what to do spot, too. My problem isn't that I mind the grey and white hair, but that it makes the rest of my face look ashen and sick-looking grey, too. That's what I don't like. I've been getting it done at the salon about $100 for cut and foils ( I like the look of 2 shades), I need the haircuts anyways, so the color adds up to $500+ a year. I can handle $100 a pop, but then I see the $500 as 1/2 of $1000 and I freak out. i don't like the one-color look much, but probably better than the grey. I'm in the 2" root stage now, not because of $$ but because I haven't had time to go to the city. Can't give you any advice, but I got it off my chest. LOL

I am mostly gray, but I have my roots colored every 3 to 4 weeks professionally. I used to do it myself--since I was 30 (Loreal Light Golden Brown) and had good results, but eventually I had to go pro. My hair just got too damaged. I would look like an old person if I let it go. But wait.... I am an old person! And a grandma! --Delores

Hi Lori! I wasn't aware that just anybody could buy salon products... I always assumed that was some sort of elite store that us non-professionals were not privy to. Having read the comments above from 3 men and a lady, I would say buy the good stuff and diy! Alternatively, I would recommend my hairdresser but she has recently hurt her back and is out of commission for the next couple months. In light of the info read above however, I may start to do my own again! Good luck! And you are lucky... I have gone almost 50% gray already! Damn genes... lol.

All I can say is get some one who knows what they are doing and never,never attempt to do it your self if you have had a drink or two!!One Christmas,my daughter asked me to put some very fine bright red streaks in her long brown hair as she was going to a party.The streaks went well and she was very pleased ,however,there was some dye left over and my children were pulling my leg about not being a funky grannie.Upto the bathroom I went and put the red dye in awfull thick blobs into my 'salt and pepper'hair.I had consumed several glasses of wine prior to this foolishness and the result was horrendous!!Next day,I purchased some light brown hair dye to do my whole head,to cover up the mess,but this dye did not react with red dye and turned all the red blobs bright orange.Next stop was the hairdresser.I asked her to cut my hair as short as possible so that I could grow it out.Everyone liked my new look and I have had short hair ever since.

I am Blue Bird. With haircoloring I ended up that I cut my hair very short and have some wigs! Very comfortable always have a nice hair do and it is much cheaper.My URL: http://wwwNatureTalks.blogspot.comgreetings from Blue Bird/ Julia :-)